Retailer Sued after Teen Shoplift Suspect Tackled by LP

A South Florida family has filed a lawsuit against Bloomingdale’s and one of their loss prevention associates after the associate tackled a 13-year-old girl at the Aventura Mall on suspicion of shoplifting, but police records show that may not have been the case.

Surveillance video from the February 10 incident shows the female security guard approaching the teen at the top of an escalator outside of the store and pushing her to the ground as she held a shopping bag in her right hand. The girl’s mother and their family attorney spoke to 7News on Thursday afternoon. “My daughter was in absolute panic,” said her mother, Federica Riveroll. “It was a violent, aggressive, hostile attack,” said the attorney, Jacob Joseph Givner.

According to police records and the lawsuit filed by the teen’s family, Jamie Stubbs, a Bloomingdale’s loss prevention associate, followed the girl out of the store and took her down atop the escalator. Court documents show this all started because Stubbs thought the girl had shoplifted bathing suits. Riveroll said she was waiting for her daughter near the escalator, and when she saw the commotion, she called police. Officers discovered that the bathing suits in question were all still in the store. The police report states, “All four swimsuits were in the fitting room where [the teen] had left them. Nothing was stolen.”

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“It was very aggressive and violent. This woman was screaming that [my daughter had] shoplifted,” said Riveroll. “There was a crowd building up around us. There were many, many onlookers. A lot of people were recording this event. It was very humiliating for all of us.” The retailer has not responded to requests for a comment. [Source: 7News Miami]

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